Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

  He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

 The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.  He has sent me

• to bring the good news to the poor,
• to proclaim liberty to captives
• to the blind new sight,
• to set the downtrodden free,
• to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

In assembly this week Mr Garrido told us of a man who was the second most wanted man in Spain at the time of the Civil War.  Spain’s fascist dictator Colonel Francisco Franco had this man’s photograph on his wall with the number two written on it.

The man was a general in the Guardia Civil, he drummed up support for the Republican Movement which greatly displeased Franco.   He attempted to help a group of nuns leave Spain but was captured on the border with France.  He was sentenced to death by firing squad and died clutching a photograph of his wife and four sons to his chest at 6am on Tuesday 14 November 1939.   He died for what he believed in, he died because he believed that everyone should be treated according to their needs, he died because he believed all should be free.

Mr Garrido told us we all know instinctively what is right, we should follow our hearts when we are challenged, not follow our hearts to what we want to do, but what we know we have to do, just like the man in our story, Pedro Garrido, his grandfather.